“Physical book sales are down and the largest national competitor [Borders] shut its door in 2011,” said Peter Wahlstrom, an analyst at Morningstar who covers Barnes & Noble. “If you look out five years and ask if there are going to be more bookstores or fewer bookstores, I think there will be fewer. Barnes & Noble is facing an uphill, structural industry headwind.”

Yesterday, it was widely reported that Barnes & Noble is seeking bidders for Sterling, the New York-based publishing house that it acquired in 2002 for $115 million. And today, the company announced that it would be pursuing “strategic exploratory work to separate the Nook business.”